Pamela Anderson reveals she was gang-raped and molested as a teenager

Pamela's shocking statement at her self-named foundation launch

Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson has revealed that she was molested by a female babysitter at the age of 6, and gang-raped by her older boyfriend and his friends while in her teens.

Speaking at the launch of her self named foundation in Cannes, she confided in her 200 guests: "I did not have an easy childhood. Despite loving parents, I was molested from age six by a female babysitter."

She then revealed that her first heterosexual experience led to rape when she was just 12 years old: "I went to a friend's boyfriend's house and his older brother decided to teach me backgammon which led into a back massage, which led into rape. My first heterosexual experience. He was 25 years old and I was 12."

She recounted that as a teenager she was gang-raped by her boyfriend and his friends, after which she added "I wanted off this earth," and lamented that her parents, despite their efforts, could not have helped her: "My parents tried to keep me safe - but to me - the world was not a safe place - my dad an alcoholic - my mom worked two jobs waitressing."

It was a speech that no one was expecting. The 46-year-old actress, a long-time animal activist, spoke of how her abuse gave her an "affinity with animals," because she "had a hard time trusting humans."

"My affinity with animals saved me, they came to me naturally. The trees spoke to me, I wasn't sure why I was alive. A burning question, a quest. My loyalty remained with animal kingdom. I vowed to protect them and only them. I prayed to the whales with my feet in the ocean, my only real friends until I had children."

On Pamela's website, she writes that her foundation is "20 years of connecting resources - for charity, a natural extension - I have been dedicated to human, animal and environmental rights. It is all connected."